Exposed
by Monica Moss
Summary: When the media publishes Danny's secret on the front page of the morning paper, he must leave Amity Park. There is one person he know can help him, someone who lives in New York . . . Jake x Rose. Slight Danny x Valerie.
1. The Minor's Article

**Yes, I know this is my second story that involves New York.**

The Minor's Article

Disclaimer: I own no TV shows.

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Sam wasn't normally a morning person. But that day, she felt awake, even though it was much earlier than she'd like to have gotten up.

It was usually her parents' fault when she was up at eight on weekends, and this was no exception. Today, however, she wasn't up because they told her to leave her room; it was more because they told her that she _couldn't_ leave her room until they got back, from wherever-it-was-they-were-going. When her parents said something like that, she knew something was suspicious.

She'd watched their convertible leave the driveway before sneaking downstairs. It was then that she saw it.

Laying with an abandoned breakfast of bacon and eggs, ("Gross," Sam thought,) was the morning paper, an extra-special edition by the look of it.

She didn't bother with skimming the article; the headline alone could tell her it was bad news. She knew she had to tell her friends, so she called, but only got a hold of Tucker.

"Did you see it?" she demanded.

"See what?"

"You didn't see it? How could you not see it?"

"Sam, what am I supposed to see?"

"Look at the cover page of the paper."

"Yikes! Do you think he knows?"

"I don't know. I'm worried about him. What if his parents already saw the article and decided to take it into their own hands?"

"You're right, we better go to his house and see what's going on over there."

"See ya there!"

Sam hung up, grabbed the article and booked it over to her destination. Somehow managing to squeeze through a crowd with signs reading: 'Get Rid of the Ectoplasm!', and 'Exterminate the Ghost Boy!', she got into the Fenton Works and ran upstairs, into her friend's bedroom and shook the bed's still-sleeping occupant.

"Danny!" she shouted. "You've got to see this!"

Several things happened quickly, Danny sat up, Sam shoved the news in his face, and he took it from her, reading:

LOCAL BOY'S THREATENING IDENTITY

Daniel Fenton is a threat to our community. Why? He is a ghost.

Last week, a child endangerment investigation took place that uncovered this information, with the help of a local teacher.

Daniel's teacher, Mr. William Lancer, realized there was something wrong with the boy while filling in for Casper High's biology teacher. In the middle of the human blood unit, the curriculum called for a lab where students would study a sample of their own blood. When Fenton misbehaved, the result was nothing our of the ordinary. He would be the one to demonstrate the lab procedure in front of the class. However, when Fenton's blood went under the microscope, nearly everyone was startled to find active ectoplasm running in his blood.

Fenton shrugged it off, blaming the phenomenon on the high exposure rates in his parents' lab.

Yes, this would seem a likely excuse considering the boy's parents are the local ghost hunters, Jack and Maddie Fenton. Lancer swallowed his story, but took the blood sample to the police, fearing that the Fentons were putting both their children in jeopardy. When they studied the blood, they realized irreversible damage had already been done to the boy; the ectoplasm wasn't just in the bloodstream, it was part of his DNA.

Yes, that means the boy has mutated. He appears to be a hybrid between a human and a ghost. Studying his blood further showed that he's not just any ghost either, he's the highly dangerous and notorious Inviso-Bill.

The Amity Park Police Department is considering its options on Fenton's capture. There has been no word on how the boy's family is reacting to the news, but hopefully, they will be cooperative not only in bringing their son to justice, but in preventing any other child mutations.

Danny gulped.

* * *

Reporters and camera crews had joined the protesters in Danny's front yard, and were closing in on the Fenton Works. Looking out the window, Maddie asked, "Hey, Jack? Do you know what all those people are doing in our yard?"

Jack turned to look, just as the first reporter knocked on the door. "I don't know, let's ask."

Opening the door, Jack bellowed, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR YARD?" Heavily startled, the reporters took a step back.

"Haven't you heard the news, Fenton?" one asked.

"Of course he hasn't," their cameraman replied. "Otherwise he'd have his kid disowned by now."

"What?" Jack shouted. "We'd never disown Danny or Jazz, no matter what! Uh, what did they do again?"

"That's the news we're here to cover?

"Whatever it is, we'll talk to our kids about what they've done.. If you're here to see us disown our children, you're going to be disappointed." Maddie replied.

"I don't believe that."

" Listen here, there is nothing more valuable to us than our children!" Maddie yelled. "We're parents _before_ anything else!"

"We'll see about that! Look at your morning paper, you can clearly read it there!" someone said, shoving a paper in Jack's and Maddie's faces. "Read it and tell us what you think, we're ready to provide full coverage on your reaction."

Maddie didn't finish the first line before becoming upset. "You used my son's full name in the paper!"

"We had to, the public had to be warned."

"The public had to be warned against a _child_? I _thought_ you were supposed to protect minors' identities! Danny's a minor! How dare you do this to my son? I don't care if he's a ghost, he's just a boy!"

"JUST READ THE PAPER, FENTON!" the Manson parents screamed, from under one of the protest signs. "And get our daughter out of your house, we don't want her associating with someone like that _monster_ in there. We saw her run in."

"We'll read the paper, and send your daughter home, Mrs. Manson, but the reporters can forget about the coverage," said Maddie. "And my son IS NOT A MONSTER!"

"Now SHOO!" Jack yelled, "Before I call the police on you! GET OFF MY PROPERTY!"

Regretfully, they cleared out, leaving the Fentons alone to finish reading the main story. "Jack?" Maddie spluttered. "It says that Danny's the Ghost Boy!"


	2. Red Pajamas

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Red Pajamas

Disclaimer: I do not own any cartoons.

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Tucker ran into the Fenton Works. "Hi Mr. And Mrs. Fenton!" he called as he shot by, "I'm just here for a few minutes."

Making it up the stairs, he went into Danny's room. "Phew! It takes forever to get into your house. There's a huge crowd of angry people you have to push past first. Dude, did you see the paper?"

"Yes!" Danny shouted. "I saw the paper! What am I going to do?"

Danny blinked as he registered all of what his friend had said. He asked, "What crowd? There's a bunch of angry people in front of my house?"

Danny ran over to the window. He looked out, and saw the angry people with their threatening signs. "That can't be good," he said.

Stomach twisting in a knot, he realized how many ghost hunters read the newspaper. He knew his parents did, and he couldn't imagine the other ghost hunters neglecting to read it. He'd be in the worst trouble he'd ever been in if he had his parents, the Guys in White, Valerie, and every other ghost hunter after him.

He asked his friends, "Do my parents know yet?"

Jack burst into Danny's room. "Daniel Phantom!" he shouted.

"I'd take that as a 'yes', dude," Tucker whispered to Danny.

Nervously, Danny said, "Oh, hi Dad."

"What's this about you being the ghost boy?"

Danny just stared at his shoes.

"Well?"

"It was an accident."

"And?"

"I didn't want you or Mom to know. I was scared. You _are_ ghost hunters."

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry," Danny apologized sincerely. He wore an uneasy look on his face, like that of a host whose guests have turned sour. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?"

"No, but after you are out of danger, we will ground you. Danny, listen, we can't stay here with everyone knowing what you are. Your mother and I want you to fly to New York. There's an old friend of mine there. You can stay with his family until the rest of us can get there with a moving van. Go, quickly!"

"Sure Dad, as soon as I know where I'm going. Do you have an address or something?"

"An address? Of course. Just let me find it," said Jack, looking around. "I know I had it somewhere."

As he looked, Sam whispered to Danny, "Your parents seem to be taking this well. They're willing to move to New York to keep you safe."

"Yeah. I guess they're not going to hunt me anymore," Danny said with a smile.

"Things sure won't be the same around here without you, dude." Tucker said. "I can't believe we'll never see you again!"

"Tucker, relax. We can visit him, as long as we don't tell our parents that we're going to New York to visit Danny."

"I found it!" Jack said, pulling out the small slip of paper with the address. "When you get there, you're looking for Jonathon Long, just tell him you're my son, okay?"

Danny nodded, taking the paper.

"Go! Hurry!"

"Goodbye guys," Danny said. He transformed, and flew to New York.

* * *

"This must be it, I think," Danny said, standing in front of his dad's friend's front door. He wasn't entirely certain he was at the right address; he'd spent an hour lost in New York trying to find the right place. He'd already come to a few doors that had turned out to be some place other than he was supposed to go.

"No point in hesitating, Fenton. Either you've finally found the right place and you're here, or you haven't and you're not." Danny said to himself. He knocked on the door.

"Yo, whazzup guys . . . " said a boy, slightly younger than Danny by the looks of it. He wore shorts, a red jacket, and a helmet. Spiky black hair with green tips peaked out at Danny. The boy was grabbing a skateboard, decorated with a dragon.

He looked up. The boy, seeing who wasn't at the door said, "You're not Spud and Trixie!"

"Uh, no, I'm not," Danny agreed. "Listen, is there a guy named Jonathon Long here?"

"My dad? Why do you want to see my dad?" the boy asked.

"I'll explain later, could you just get him?"

The boy laughed in response.

"What?" Danny asked, "What's so funny?"

"Dude, nice P.J.s!" the kid responded. Blushing, Danny glanced down at his red pajamas.

"I'm surprised you're the first to say anything," Danny mumbled. "I had to leave in a hurry, okay? Could you just go get your dad?"

"Yo, Dad! Some dude in his P.J.s is here to see you!"

Danny mumbled, "I told you I left in a hurry."

"And who do we have here?" asked Jonathon, looking at Danny.

"Well, you remember Jack Fenton, right?"

"My best friend from high school?" Jonathon recalled. "I haven't seen him since he left to go to college in Wisconsin. What does he have to do with you being here in your pajamas?"

"I left in a hurry, okay?" Danny snapped. Danny took a breath and continued, "Jack's my dad. He thought I'd be safer here than back home. He'll come to get me soon." Danny said.

Inside, he was thinking, 'Another old friend of my dad's? I hope he doesn't turn out like Dad's old friend from college, evil and bitter. He seems all right, though.'

"When he gets here, I'll just have to tell him that he's welcome here anytime!" Jonathon declared. "Come on in, I'm sure we have some old clothes you can borrow. What was your name again?"

"Danny Fenton."

"Jake, once he's dressed, could you show Danny around?"

"But Dad, I'm supposed to go to the skate park with Spud and Trixie! They'll be here any second!"

"No buts! You'll just have to take Danny with you," Jonathon told his son.

"Aw man!" Jake groaned.


	3. Never a Break from Duty

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Never a Break from Duty

Disclaimer: I'm not the one who owns these shows.

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At the Skate Park:

"So, Jakey, who is that?" Trixie asked, pointing at the black-haired boy that had followed them from the Longs' house to the skate park.

"That's Danny," Jake replied, "My dad's making me show him around. Supposedly, he's the son of my dad's best friend from high school."

"Dude!" Spud shouted. "I love the shirt and all, but it looks a bit like the oversized 'I Cards' shirt Jake's step-aunt from his dad's side sent him for his birthday."

Danny just mumbled to himself that it _was_ Jake's shirt. Luckily for him, Spud didn't hear.

"Why's he here anyway?" Trixie asked.

"My family's moving here from a small town you wouldn't have heard of. My parents want to get away from . . . from problems back home. Even New York is safer than our old town, now that those . . . heh heh, problems exist." Danny explained. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'problems caused by the Amity Park Banner.'

"Why did you hesitate before saying 'problems'?" Spud inquired suspiciously. "Wait, what problems? What do you mean by problems?"

"Just some problems related to my parents' line of work. It's no big deal, really." Danny half-lied.

_Flashback:_

"_I can't believe my best friend from high isn't coming to our graduating class reunion!" Jonathon shouted. "He said he's too busy with his job. I can't believe he won't take a little time off of ghost hunting to come catch up with everyone! He was interested in ghosts in high school, but now he's obsessed. Every time I talk to him, it's always ghosts this, and ghosts that. I'm telling you he needs to come to this reunion so he can _WIND DOWN!_"_

"_Uh, yeah. That's great Dad, I guess he'll just have to come visit another time, when he's not ghost hunting." Jake said._

_At the same time, but in another state . . . _

_Jack traced his finger around the contour of the blueprints. He was figuring, "If we're going to power this Ghost Portal we're making, we'll have to use . . . " he stopped his sentence short of saying what they'd need. Instead, he shouted, "Bathroom break! I'll be back, Maddie."_

Present:

"Aren't your parents ghost hunters?" Jake asked.

Danny laughed nervously. "That's really funny. I didn't know that you knew what my parents do for their career."

Changing the subject, Danny shrieked, "Enough about my problems! Isn't it about time we get on the half-pipe already?"

"Yeah, let's go, dudes. There's not much point in coming to the skate park if we don't use the half-pipe!" Spud agreed. He skated off, shouting, "Last one there is a can of six-month-old sardines!"

Trixie shook her head, "That boy is as childish as childish gets."

Talking to Danny, she added, "Now why do you want to get on the half-pipe? You didn't even bring a skateboard!"

Danny shrugged. He said, "Oops! My mistake. Go have some fun. I'll see if there's a way I can rent one."

"Uh-huh," she grunted. "Good luck with that."

Trixie skated off, but Jake was stopped by what he heard: a voice calling in a whisper,"Psssst! American Dragon! Me clan requires assistance!"

* * *

Danny saw Jake sneak off, 'I wonder where he's going,' he thought idly.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it. His ghost sense trailed out of his mouth, alerting him of something he needed to deal with. 'Not here, too,' he thought.

Quickly, he found a place to duck, so no one would witness him changing into a ghost. His two rings flashed over his body, as he rushed to transform.

Invisible, he shot into the air. Looked around, he couldn't see any ghosts, but it likely that the ghost was lurking behind one of New York's many skyscrapers. He simply followed his ghost sense until he found the specter.

Even Danny, whose average day could never be considered normal, had never expected this. The ghost was robbing a store called, 'Pot o' Luck'. Leprechauns were panicking, and running wily-nily with armfuls of gold.

A leprechaun wearing a green tuxedo was begging Jake for protection. "Please, American Dragon, ye've got to stop this! If'n tha' monster gets away wi' all our gold, we'll have lost our lives's savin's in delicate gold treasures. Oh that'd be deepest shame fo' a leprechaun clan. Ye've gotta get our gold back, laddie!"

'Gee, I can't let these guys get robbed,' Danny thought, sending an ectoblast at the ghost.

Immediately, the leprechauns' panic increased. The one in the suit shouted, "Only th' Huntsclan uses tha' green energy! They be here for all our merchandise, boyos!"

"Huntsclan?" Danny asked, turning visible. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. I'm just here to help."

"It be another ghastly monster!"

"No, you've got it wrong! I'm only here to help you get your property back." Danny told them.

"Monster, me?" asked the robber ghost. "I'm just after gold, just like you leprechauns. Ta!"

He flew off, and a leprechaun cried, "He be gettin' away wi' our gold!"

"Not for long," Jake declared. He put his fists in the air and roared, "Dragon up!"

He flew after the robber, saying to himself, "How can I stop a ghost?"

Danny caught up to Jake, and answered his question by stating, "You could ask for help."

"Aw man! What do you want?"

"I just want to help. I'm not going to let anyone get robbed by a ghost. It's my responsibility to keep ghosts from causing trouble."

"Say what? I haven't met any ghosts trying to prevent trouble."

"But that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm just going to help, I swear!" Danny promised.

Danny shot another ectoblast at the thief, causing him to drop the wealth. Jake grabbed the bag of gold with his tail as Danny uncapped his thermos.

The ghost shouted as he was sucked in. Triumphantly, Danny screwed the lid back on. He announced, "Got him."

"Okay, who are you?" Jake asked Danny.

Danny introduced himself, "My name's Danny Phantom, and as I said earlier, it's my responsibility to keep ghosts from causing trouble. So you're a dragon, huh?"

"Yeah, and I meant you seem really familiar. Do I know you?"

"Well, we _have_ met, Jake."

This answer frustrated the young dragon. "So, who are you? I don't remember meeting you."

"Fine, I'll show you," Danny said, "but I'm assuming that you won't tell anyone my secret. I know I'm not going to tell anyone yours."

After a second of delay, he said, "I'm Danny Fenton."

Danny turned human.


	4. Magical Visitor

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**XSuperXStarX: Honestly, that didn't cross my mind. It is interesting to think about. He puts in a lot of effort to keeping humans from figuring out his secret. But in Season One, one of the first things he does around new ghostly enemies is go ghost. I'm not sure why he transforms around his enemies. I wouldn't think revealing your biggest secret to your enemies would be a good idea. Thanks for your opinion, and thank you for your review.  
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Disclaimer: This is only a fanfiction based on shows that I admire. I don't own the shows.

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Magical Visitor

Jake laughed. "Dude, I've seen some pretty crazy stuff. This doesn't surprise me too much actually."

"Really?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought there were only three halfas in the world, and not many people who have ever heard of them."

"Halfas?"

"Halfas are half human, and half ghost," Danny explained. "A bunch of teenage ghosts gave us the name, and it stuck. I'd be surprised if you've met a halfa before now."

"Okay," Jake said flatly. "Maybe I _was_ surprised, more or less."

"We better get back to the skate park," Danny said, "or your friends will start to wonder where we are."

"Yeah, just one last thing," Jake said. "My dad doesn't exactly know about the existence of magical creatures. No ghost stuff around him, clear?"

Danny grinned. "Don't worry about it. I know how that goes."

___

"Ghost detectors, ghost weapons, blueprints . . . Fudge buckets!" Jack shouted, holding several boxes of ghost hunting stuff. "We can't take the Fenton Ghost Portal with us! I guess we're just gonna have to leave it as a gift for whoever buys our house."

"I still can't believe we didn't know Danny is the Ghost Boy," Maddie said.

"Maybe if you'd taken the time to know us a bit better, you would have known sooner," Jazz suggested.

"But I know both my kids very well!" Jack protested. "They both want to be ghost hunters when they grow up! There's nothing else to know."

"No, Dad. Do I really have to tell you how many things are wrong with that statement?" Jazz inquired.

"There's nothing wrong with it!" Jack cried.

"Jack, I think she has a point. There is more about our kids to know than what they want to be when they grow up. Besides, I thought Jazz wanted to work with the human mind, and Danny wanted to be an astronaut?"

"I guess we can get to know them a bit better," Jack grumbled.

"Good."

___

"Jonathon, why is Danny staying with us again?" Helen asked, watching Danny and Jake doing the dishes.

"He says his family is having problems back home. His parents sent him here to keep him safe. We can't turn him down. He's the son of Jack Fenton, my best friend from high school!"

Frowning, Helen reminded him, "You know how I feel about having strangers in my house!"

Danny, hearing their discussion promised, "I won't cause any trouble."

"Of course you won't," Helen said skeptically.

"Don't worry about a thing! If he causes any trouble, his dad'll straighten him out. Besides, he _did_ offer to help with the dishes. I wouldn't say that he's the type to cause trouble."

"If you say so," Helen sighed, resisting the puerile urge to roll her eyes.

Unknown to her husband and children, she'd had a hunch that there was something very off about their visitor. She'd gone to her father - to get a way to see whether or not their visitor was magical. Dragon powers having skipped her generation, she couldn't set it off, but a magical stranger could.

The detector was a small needle, soaked in a potion to make it glow after contact with a magical being. She'd slipped it into her hand as she shook hands with Danny. He was most definitely a magical being.

"Jonathon, honey, would you please take out the trash?" she asked.

"Of course I'll take out the trash!"

She waited until he was gone to say, "You can get out of my house right now. I know what you are, Danny Fenton!"

"What!?!" Danny exclaimed. "But . . . "

"Mom, he's legit!" declared Jake. "He's not bad, really!"

"Jake, what did your grandfather always tell you about unknown magical visitors?"

"But Mom, dragons are protectors of the magical world. I've gotta help this guy out. It's my duty as the American Dragon!"

"Yes, but what did your grandfather tell you about people you don't know well?"

"To be careful around them. Mom, I think we can trust him, he helped me save some leprechauns earlier today."

Danny shrugged. "I told you it's my responsibility to keep ghosts from causing trouble."

"Never mind that!" Helen shouted. "What about these 'problems' he's having back home? Do you know what these problems are?"

"Not exactly," said Jake.

"Did it ever occur to you that he might be a fugitive, hiding from the magical police?"

"No," Jake admitted.

"Mrs. Long, I can assure you that I'm not a fugitive hiding from the magical police," said Danny. "I'm just hiding from the people that got really angry when they found out what I am."

"Hold up, _human_ people?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"Yes, it's a problem. It's a HUGE problem!" Jake yelled. "Humans are not supposed to know about the magical world! Many of the humans that find out form secret societies like the Huntsclan. They become bent on destroying all things magical!"

"I know there are some humans that can be trusted, like Spud and Trixie," Jake said. "But I don't think an angry group like that can be trusted."

"I know," said Danny. "I didn't tell them on purpose. A few of them found out on their own, and then told the local newspaper about it. The story was on the front page."

"That's harsh," Jake sympathized.

"Jake?" Helen interrupted.

"Yes, I know Mom. Danny, I've gotta take you to my gramps," Jake told the halfa. "You need to tell him about this. I'm warning you right now; he's got a nasty temper."


	5. Jake's LehrerDanny's Mistake

**I'm sorry about calling Susan Helen in the last chapter. It will be fixed.**

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Disclaimer - I don't own anything that's on TV, need I say more?

Jake's Lehrer/Danny's Mistake

* * *

Ding dong! The song of the doorbell rang throughout the Long residence.

"I've got it!" Jonathon called.

Jonathon opened the door to see a monocled man standing on his porch.

"Hello," said the man bluntly. "You are Mr. Long, I presume?"

"Why, yes! And who exactly are you?" Jonathon asked.

"I am your son's Mythology teacher, Mr. Rotwood. I have an amazing extra credit opportunity to discuss with you. Your son will get enough extra credit by accepting this to raise his grade from an F!"

"An F? I knew my little Jakeroo isn't a good student, but an F? I thought he'd at least respect his teachers enough to try to get an A."

"Respect?" Rotwood screamed. "That little _dummkopf_ (1) of yours has no respect! He is one of the hooligans that toilet papered and repainted _meinen Auto_ (2) last week! _Es war sehr nett - neu, rot, und schnell, _(3) before he got to it!"

Rotwood composed himself. "But no matter, your student has an amazing opportunity, and I think even your little comedian can handle this assignment. After all, he does like being in front of crowds."

"Well, I suppose discussing this extra credit option would be a good thing for Jake," Jonathon acknowledged. "Why don't you come in and take a seat?"

Once he was comfortably sitting in the Long's living room, Rotwood said, "Tell me, Mr. Long. How would you feel about your son speaking in a school assembly?"

"I wouldn't have a problem with it. May I ask what he would be speaking about?"

Rotwood sighed.

"Very few students are showing interest in taking Mythology class anymore," he informed Jonathon. "I was thinking, if he could give a short speech on a mythological creature of his choice, it was raise interest in the class."

"My Jake could do that."

"Very good!" Rotwood declared. "And a favor, Mr. Long? I'm not entirely comfortable with selecting your son as the speaker, but no one else is willing to do it. Please try to make sure he doesn't say anything inappropriate."

* * *

Danny cringed. Jake's grandpa may have been small, but his fury was the size of Goliath.

"Do you not realize how much danger you've put the magical world into?" he shrieked.

"Yes," Danny answered, "but . . . "

"Your actions were extremely selfish! If I had jurisdiction over you, you would be banished from all society!"

Danny tried to break in, "You do realize . . . "

"Your dragon master must be ashamed! You broke the secret that's been protecting magical creatures for thousands of years!"

"Jake?" Danny asked, looking to his peer for help.

"Hey, I'm just glad he's not yelling at me for once," Jake said, shrugging.

" . . . and now we are all in danger because of you, you _stupid teenage boy! _I bet you didn't even think about your duties as a dragon!"

Danny wasn't going to endure the old man's shouted spiel anymore. Eyes green, he bellowed, "You think I let them find out on purpose? I was scared of what my own _parents_ might do to me if they found out, let alone people who don't care as much for my well being! Why would I let them find out?"

Danny frowned and asked, "You do realize I'm not a dragon, right?"

"Ay yah!" Lou Chi cried. "Regardless of how they found out, the magical world is still in danger. You may not have meant for it to happen, but it is still your fault. You and Jake need to fix it."

"Why does Jake need to fix it?" Danny asked. "He didn't do anything."

"Because it is his duty," Lou Chi responded. "You two had better get started. I have some business I need to take care of."

"Fu!" Lou Chi called from at the door. "Keep an eye on them, and make sure that the miscreant Jake brought over doesn't cause any trouble."

"Me?" Fu asked. "Let him cause trouble? I never let that happen. Name one time I let that happen, just one time."

Danny jumped. "He talks!" he exclaimed.

This outburst earned Danny a strange look from the occupants of the room.

"I thought you were part of the magical community, and knew about animal guardians," Fu stated.

"Fu dog, don't let this turn out the way it did when you were watching those two pathetic members of the Huntsclan, 88 and 89," Lou Chi cautioned.

"Hey!" Fu protested. "That was a one-time incident!"

"Oh really? Just keep an eye on him!" Lou Chi ordered.

* * *

Walking up to his own house, Jake said, "What a night. We were racking our brains 'til midnight, and haven't even got a hint to what a solution could be."

"Yeah, this stinks," Danny agreed.

As soon Jake opened the door to his house, he saw his angry parents.

"Jake Long!" Jonathon shouted. "You are officially grounded! Failing Mythology? Coming home late? This calls for some serious parental action."

"And you!" Susan shouted, pointing at Danny. "Don't think that I don't know you that you have something to do with this! I knew you were trouble!"

"Jake, there will be no video games for you for two weeks!" Jonathon announced. "On top of that, you will not go skateboarding or "hang out" with your friends until you've got your speech done! Is that clear?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be trouble," Danny told Susan. "I'm only here until my parents come get me. It shouldn't be more than a few days."

"Dad, what speech?" Jake asked.

"Your extra credit speech! Your teacher's giving you an opportunity for extra credit. You've got to write a speech on your favorite mythological creature, and give it in your school's assembly. If I were you, I'd hop to it, and get the speech-writing out of the way!"

"You better not be here for more than a few days!" Susan screamed, pointing a finger at Danny.

"Don't worry Mom. Gramps already chewed him out." Jake said.

"Chewed him out? What did he do?"

"Fill you in later," said Jake.

"It was an accident," Danny said quietly. "And I'm trying to fix it, before there's any more damage."

"What happened?" Jonathon asked. "If it's something dangerous, I think we should know what you did before allowing you to stay in our house!"

"There was a security breach," Jake said, in way of explanation. Glaring at Danny, he added, "A big one."

"It wasn't really avoidable," said Danny. "It wouldn't have been as bad if the media hadn't found out. It was just some information on an accident that happened in my parents' lab months ago. The victim was fine. Unfortunately, the public having the knowledge created severe danger."

Danny dropped his voice to a whisper, so that only Jake could hear. "But the knowledge you're most worried about was well known long before the newspaper article that got _me_ in trouble was ever published. Amity Park already knew about ghosts when they found out about me."

* * *

**Rose comes in next chapter!  
**

Translations:

Lehrer - teacher

1. dummkopf: loosely translated, it means 'dummy'.

2. _meinen Auto_: my car. (I'm not sure if I got my grammar right for this. I know that with a direct object, and a 'der' word, mein turns to meinen. But is Auto a der word?)

3._Es war sehr nett - neu, rot, und schnell,_: It was very nice - new, red, and fast,


	6. If Only we Didn't Have to Hide

Disclaimer: I do not work for a TV studio, nor do I own anything that comes from TV studios like those that animate Danny Phantom and Jake Long.

**Maybe I should have had this up by Valentine's Day. Oh well, so much for that.**

**Yes, Rose **_**did**_** make it into this chapter, and so did Valerie! But Danny didn't.**

**Review Reply time!**

**Dredoll: Danke schon! Das word!  
**

**starr1095: You'll have to read to find out. Thanks for reviewing!  
**

**The Feral Candy Cane: I'm glad you were willing to help, if you could. Thanks for your review!  
**

**Anonymous: Thank you! Das Auto makes it mein Auto. Thanks for your help.**

**tiger002: Thanks. I think ghosts were already part of the magical world, actually. There was an episode of Jake Long with some ghosts in it.**

**Jake and his friends were counselors at Camp Mugwomp, which turned out to be an old POW camp from the American Civil War, or the War between the States, or whatever you call it. The ghosts of Shackles Jack and his gang are released while they are there, and are plotting revenge on the living. In the end, Jake traps them in the Mugwomp Cup with a potion they were going to use to get themselves the human bodies of campers who won the Mugwomp Competion. (It worked almost like a thermos.)  
**

**Luiz4200: It becomes a trouble for Danny. It was trouble for the magical world, but Jake didn't know the secret was out in Amity Park yet. I hope I cleared that up for you.  
**

**mangafreakazoid: Okay, thanks. I tried adding some more detail, and I think I did okay. I'm happy with the results anyway, thanks for your suggestion.  
**

**kittyore9: Okay, here it is. Enjoy!  
**

* * *

If Only we Didn't Have to Hide

Jake flopped down onto his bed. "Time for some well-deserved rest," he sighed. A smile came to his lips. He added, "Not to mention, a dream date with Rose . . . "

Rose was waiting for him in an exquisite ballroom, with arches on the walls, and a painted ceiling. She smiled when he came, and greeted him.

She was dressed in a pink, sleeved dress with sequins. Her dress covered her shoulders, and the dress flowed, hem hovering halfway down her calves.

Her hair was curled. Pins held the locks behind her ears. A small white rose was pinned behind her left ear, creating a soft accent.

Jake whistled. "Rose, you look great!" he exclaimed. "Not that you don't always look great, it's just that you took me by surprise tonight."

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself," Rose replied, glancing at him in the tuxedo she'd dreamed for him to wear.

Music started playing, a slow song. Jake recognized it as, 'Everything I do, I do it for you.'

"So, do you want to dance?" Jake asked.

Rose smiled. "You know I'd love to."

Jake bowed, and took Rose's hand. Tingling feelings shot through the two of them as they danced. They definitely felt as strongly about each other as the sea is deep.

"How's it going, Rose?"

"Same as usual," she replied. "Still being governed by the Huntsclan. Hate it. I really wish things were different, Jake. I don't want to be your enemy. I want us to be able to be together without having to hide it."

"I know. I wish we didn't have to hide it too. But at least we can still be together here, in our dreams."

"So what were you up to?" Rose asked. "You're usually here a lot earlier than you were this evening."

'I was up to something that's going to be difficult to reverse,' Jake thought. He sighed.

"Magical world in immediate danger again?" Rose guessed, worried.

"Yeah," Jake confirmed. "People found out about us, a whole city found out. Refugees are coming to New York to hide."

"I'm sorry," Rose said with pity. "I think I may have a solution for you though. It was used once when a city found out about the Huntsclan."

"What happened?"

"The residents weren't so sympathetic with us. The Huntsman ordered hypnotic broadcasts to be played all around the city, just to suppress memories of us. We set up radios on every street, and in every building. The people forgot in no time. Maybe something similar would work with this city that knows about the magical world?"

Rose's brains were one of the many reasons Jake liked her. "Rose, you're a genius!" Jake declared.

"Thanks," Rose whispered. "Now that you know what to do, I think we can get back our date?"

"Certainly," Jake said, leading his dance partner into a spin.

"You know, a dance is never a dance without a queen," Jake said, dreaming a tiara into existence.

Rose giggled, saying, "Jake, you don't have to do this."

"I know," he replied, "Mind if I do the honors?"

Jake delicately placed the tiara on Rose's head, then leaned in. . . .

As it always was for the couple, they didn't get their kiss. Sounds of battle pulled Jake out of the dream date before their lips could touch.

* * *

Valerie got rid of the technology-obsessed ghost, 'Technus', and cringed as the late bell rang. She'd had to stay up all night to rid Amity Park of every ghost that was trying to take over, and now, thanks to Technus, she was going to get tardy points. Because of ghosts, her homework wasn't done, she hadn't gotten a chance to eat breakfast, and she was so exhausted that there was no way she'd be able to stay awake during class.

She had no clue why all the ghosts had been attacking more frequently since Saturday, but she was sure that it was all part of a plot. She'd seen a lot more ghosts since then. That was, except for Phantom, her foe, but also the boy she once dated.

Valerie had a headache from the thought. She'd dated Phantom, only he'd been Fenton at the time. She now knew that they were one and the same, and hadn't seen his face after she'd found out.

There hadn't been any sign of him since Saturday, the day he was revealed, and the same day that she'd started running into more ghosts than ever before . . .

Something was up, she realized, and Danny Phantom was part of it. She didn't know how, but he was undeniably part of it.

* * *

_After school_ . . .

Valerie despaired as she saw three teenaged ghosts flying toward the mall. Two of them were on a motorcycle, and looked like a couple. The other was carrying a guitar, with her hair in a flaming blue ponytail.

Valerie ducked behind some parked cars and changed into her red ghost hunting suit.

While flying up on them, she heard the male on the motorcycle ask, "Are you sure this will work?"

"Of course it'll work," said the ghost with the guitar. "Danny Phantom isn't around to stop us."

"He better not be," growled the female on the motorcycle, "or it will be the thermos and back to the Ghost Zone for all of us. I don't get what his problem is. He keeps stopping us from harming the humans, but what ghost in his right mind, even a half ghost, would want to protect _humans_ so bad that they risk their afterlife to keep them safe?"

'They think Phantom's been protecting this town?' Valerie thought, confused. 'If he's been shoving ghosts back into the Ghost Zone that would explain why all of a sudden there's more ghosts around here. He's not here to keep them out of Amity Park. But I don't believe Phantom would do that, I know him.'

But another part of Valerie argued, 'But you also know Danny Fenton. Isn't he a decent guy? You dated him, so you must've seen something good in him.'

Even if Danny was a hero, Valerie wasn't going to change her opinion about Danny that quickly. That would involve admitting she was wrong, which she wasn't ready to do. She didn't know whether or not she wanted him to be a hero. The whole thing was getting her frustrated. Luckily, there were some ghosts around that she could force her stress onto.

"It doesn't matter if Phantom's really been stopping you or not!" she screamed at Johnny, Kitty, and Ember. "All that matters is that I'm here, and I'm going to stop you now!"

"It's the Red Huntress," said Kitty. "What's she doing here, filling in for her boyfriend? I saw her dating the halfa a couple months back."

"I thought he was with that Goth girl," Ember commented. "It may be disgusting how obvious their feelings are for each other, but I can cope with that. I actually like it. A love spell easily turns that fact to my advantage."

"The last I heard he _was_ dating the Huntress," Kitty said.

"Be quiet!" Valerie shouted. "He is not my boyfriend! We broke up!"

She aimed her gun. "You are going to get it now, _ghost_."

Kitty dodged as Valerie fired.

* * *

**Nice plan Rose. Too bad that the ghosts will still be flying around Amity Park after the broadcasts start.**


	7. She Was Wrong

**This chapter was a joy to work on. It is now here to be read, and I've got reviews to thank (all of you!) and reply to:**

**Luiz4200: Youngblood mentions Danny's parents in this chapter actually, and Jake mentions Rose . . . . As always, thanks for reviewing!  
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**The Feral Candy Cane: Yeah, I am being a little mean to her in this story. But she's fun to write for, and it shows Danny's importance to Amity Park.  
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**tiger002: Thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing, and thanks for the compliments.  
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**starr1095: Poor Valerie will be in trouble for a bit. I do appreciate reviews, so thanks again!  
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**FashionDiva7: Thanks for the review, and for your recent update. I enjoy your cross-over too!**

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Disclaimer: I don't make money by working with TV shows, I am just a fan.

* * *

She Was Wrong

"Why are you even here, Skulker?" Danny asked angrily, as he massaged his back. It still ached from where he'd be forced and pinned to the wall by the ghost's massive ectoplasmic exoskeleton. He'd been able to release Skulkers' grip by speedily kicking upward to hit his foe's chest, but his bruised back kept hurting.

"You know what I want, ghost child," Skulker answered. "What do I always want?"

Skulker shot a missile at Danny. Danny ducked, just barely avoiding being hit as the missile crashed through the window and whooshed toward the neighbor's house.

"To display my pelt in some part of your lair. Y'know, normal people would say you're seriously disturbed for wanting that." Danny responded as he flew at Skulker. He punched the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter in the face and knocked him into the wall, hard enough for the closet door to swing open, and the room's usual occupants of shoes to pour out.

"You'll pay for that, whelp," Skulker growled, with Haley's pink slippers dangling off his helmet.

Danny snickered before saying, "I kinda figured, but it was worth it!"

Danny felt the door to the bedroom swing through him as the American Dragon barged in. He turned around.

"What's going on in here?" Jake demanded. "I could hear you from upstairs, and you pulled me away from Rose!"

"Dragon?" Skulker asked. "Usually I'd go after a prize like you, but I have a much rarer trophy to hunt."

Seeing Jake's bewildered face, Danny explained, "He means me. It's really disturbing. He wants to lay my pelt at the foot of his bed, display my head on his wall, or something like that. He must've followed me here from Amity Park."

"You know, you never actually told me how Amity Park found out about the magical world," Jake reminded Danny. "Was that guy the reason?"

"One of them. I mean, it's hard to keep the magical world a secret when the magical world is flying around and scaring people all the time."

"It's a crime to reveal the magical world! Hello, does genocide mean anything to you?" Jake spat at Skulker, narrowing his eyes at the ghost.

Skulker laughed. "When have ghosts ever cared about that?"

"Well, you should," Jake said, "since you're part of the magical world."

"The ghost hunters are just going to build better ghost weapons, and they know how to get to the Ghost Zone to use them on you. Is that what you want?" Danny asked.

"They were always going to know about us anyway," Skulker sneered. "Besides, wasn't it your crazy parents who wanted to build a Ghost Portal in the first place? We could do this all night, Phantom, but I have better plans for my evening."

He pulled out a bazooka and shot Danny through the wall.

"Gah!" yelped the halfa.

* * *

Valerie groaned as she heard an explosion across the street. She knew that it'd have to be a ghost, so she put on her ghost hunting gear and went to investigate.

The first thing she found was a blue specter who was, as usual, telling the world that he was the Box Ghost - Beware!

"You better not be the one who set off the explosion, ghost!" she huffed. "But I will hunt you anyway, once I'm through with the one who did."

"Of course I'm not the one who set off the explosion!" the Box Ghost bellowed. "That would be the brat who thinks explosions are cooler than boxes. What could possibly be cooler than _boxes_?"

"Didn't think so," Valerie mumbled, flying on.

Her ghost alarm went off as she came upon a ghostly kid, who was laughing, and saying to a skeletal bird, "That was awesome! I don't know why I bothered with being a cowboy or a pirate in the first place. A spy is so much better!"

"That's enough, ghost!" Valerie shouted.

Youngblood looked up at her. He whined, "You're no fun - you snobby spoilsport! You're just as big of a spoilsport as Danny Phantom!"

'Great,' Valerie thought. 'Another ghost that seems to think Phantom's the hero. I can't be wrong about him being evil. I can't be wrong!'

Youngblood had turned to his parrot and had started telling him something:

"...And then I laughed so hard when Skulker told me that he overheard Phantom's family when they said that it was time to leave for New York to join him," he said, "The Fentons are all a bunch of pussycats. 'Danny, no don't hurt Danny. We'll have him run away like the coward he is, our poor liddl' baby Danny!' Hilarious, right?"

"I don't know why you think that story is appropriate for this situation. I am downright certain this is the not best time to be recounting that to me," said his parrot.

"You know what he said next?" Youngblood interrupted. "He said he was going to New York to hunt him. I'm glad he went for it!"

At that moment, Valerie's ghost alarm went off - again! A greenish ghost woman flew through the scene, carrying most of a nearby jewelry store's selection of creamy pearl necklaces.

"Hey!" Valerie shouted. "You can't steal those!"

"Why not?" asked the ghost. "Who's going to stop me with Phantom out of the way?"

As quickly as she came, the ghost flew off.

Valerie shouted out a bad word and stomped her foot on her hover board. She was wrong about Phantom, and she had lots of ghosts to catch before she could get any sleep. Right then, she wished more than anything that Danny was still around to do most of the ghost hunting.


	8. Pipsqueak

**Thank you reviewers:**

**The Feral Candy Cane -It was fun to write as well. Thanks, I appreciate your praise.  
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**FashionDiva7 - Thanks! PS, don't feel too bad about your story. I think Jake and Danny switching powers is an intriguing idea. :)  
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**Luiz4200 - No, it's not Diseree, and Valerie doesn't go to New York. But that was a good guess.  
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**tiger002 - Thanks for your review.  
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**hazlov2004 - Thanks!  
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**Lucario star - I'm glad to see you like it.  
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**SilverStar2334 - I've been delayed in getting this chapter here, but it's here now, so here you go. I hope you enjoy.  
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**Jynxpixie - Thank you! I'm grateful that you took the time to review!  
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**And I'd also like to thank those who have put this story on their list of favorites, put it on story alert, or those favoriting me as an author, or putting me on author alert. You guys ROCK!  
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Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and Jake Long belong to people that _do not_ have the pen name Shadow Moss.

* * *

Pipsqueak

Danny hit his shoulder hard as he crashed into the living room floor. Massaging his forming bruise, he mumbled, "Gotta get Skulker outta here, before he causes _too_ much damage."

Danny flew back through the wall to rejoin the fight. He surrounded his hand in ectoplasm and punched a dent into the chest of Skulker's battle suit.

Skulker grabbed Danny near his injured shoulder, and started slamming the teenager against nearby objects. He swung Danny easily, and inflicted a lot of damage to the guest bedroom in the process.

The AmDrag looked for his chance to join in. He scanned Skulker's suit for a weakness. Then, he saw it. Hidden behind the hunter's ear, was a small silver button, labeled, "Eject."

Jake almost scoffed when he saw it. An eject button? Didn't that belong only on the _inside_ of the suit? It was just too easy for an opponent to push an eject button on the outside of a suit, when they found it.

Hoping Skulker was tangible, Jake thought, 'Here goes!'

Swiftly, he jumped into the combat, and pressed the button. It worked, tossing Skulker out.

Danny caught Skulker, and grasped his tiny form in his hand. "I've got you, you little pipsqueak!"

Skulker started giggling in Danny's grip.

"What?!" Danny asked. "What's so funny?"

"You set off the booby trap!" Skulker squealed.

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Booby trap?"

Skulker's suit exploded, sending metal shards everywhere. The boys yelped as they were hit by the debris, and Skulker laughed at the top of his tiny lungs. Danny dropped Skulker in surprise, and the small ghost hid himself.

Skulker waited silently, knowing that his suit would reform in a matter of minutes. It would reach out and put him back in its control center, then he could escape before he got trapped in Phantom's thermos.

* * *

_If there's one thing I've learned from mythology class, is that some things are too fantastic to believe. So fantastic and far-fetched, in fact, I don't even know why Mr. Rotwood believes in them._

'There we go,' Jake thought. 'Just a precaution to keep the magical world secret in the NYC. I don't think Gramps could complain about that.'

As soon as Jake's mother had learned of his extra-credit assignment, she'd called Lou Chi, who'd told Jake specifically to use great caution concerning the secret of the magical world in his essay.

Jake lay stomach-down on his bed. His paper was in front of him, his pencil in his hand, and his feet swinging above him.

Jake wrote:

_But, they do make good stories. If you can stay awake through them, that is._

_My favorite mythical being would have to be a dragon. I mean, they're so cool. Everybody knows they have wicked moves, and what could be more awesome than the dragon with it's great strength, superb flight speed, and fire-breathing? You've gotta give them their props! I mean, who doesn't like dragons?_

Jake's train of thought was lost as he heard his dad's shouts at, presumably Danny, downstairs: "Holy mackerel! What did you do to this room? It looks like there was some type of skirmish in here! I take you into my house as a guest, and you wreck the place!"

Danny must have mumbled a reply, because Jonathon said, "What was that, speak up?"

Danny gave another reply, and Jonathon yelled, "Nothing? It sure doesn't look like 'nothing' to me!"

Danny said something, and Jonathon cried, "You'd better! That's the only decent thing to do now that you've wrecked the entire room!"

Jonathon paused, then made an observation, "Say, you've got quite the bags under your eyes. What were you up to last night?"

After Danny told him something, Jonathon said, "I know you need to clean this mess, but that doesn't answer my question. What were you up to last night?"

"Okay," Jake said to himself, "I guess it's time to hear the other side of the conversation. _**Ear of the dragon**__.__**"**_

" . . . on my mind." Danny was explaining. "After I finally fell asleep, I guess I must have, um, how should I put this? I guess I must've sleepwalked. I do that sometimes, and I mess up my room sometimes when I do. I don't really like to mention my sleepwalking. And that's why the bedroom's a mess?"

"Somehow that doesn't seem likely," Jonathon said. "But if you really do clean this mess up, I'll to give you the benefit of the doubt, although you've started to leave quite a bad impression lately. But seriously, don't let it happen again."

"JAKE! HOW'S THAT ESSAY COMING?" Jonathon called up the stairs.

"Workin' on it, Dad!" Jake replied, reverting his ear back to a human ear at once, in case his dad came in to see his progress.

_Taking Mythology class means learning about Mr. Rotwood's . . . I mean, _Professor_ Rotwood's view of those fictional creature_s _you'll learn about. For example, you know the dragons I was talking about earlier? According to him, their scales glow in the dark and smell like lavender. I know, it's totally whack!_

'And totally not true,' Jake thought to himself.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang, and Jonathon called, "I'll get it!"

_But his unique insights do put an interesting twist on the stories of dragons from Europe and Asia. If nothing else, you do get . . ._

A light tapping on his bedroom door interrupted Jake's essay-writing efforts.

"Uh, Jake," Danny's voice said, drifting through the door. "I hate to disturb you, but your grandpa's here. He wants to talk to both of us, right now."

"Gramps?" Jake asked. "Now?"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Danny confirmed.

"Aw man, what does G want?" Jake asked, coming out of his bedroom. Luckily for him, the Terrible Teen Alarm System his dad had installed a while before, had broken down, so he didn't end up dangling from his feet, with alarms going off. The system was now lying disassembled in some dump.

Danny shrugged, frowning. "Your guess is as good as mine."


	9. In the Park

_Last Chapter:_

_Skulker escaped from the battle after Jake set off a booby trap and his battle suit exploded. Danny explains that the mess the battle left was caused by his sleepwalking, while Jake writes his essay. Lou chit drops by, asking to see both boys._

**Wow, sorry I took a vacation from this fic. But it's here now, and I've got reviews to reply to.**

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Disclaimer: I am the proud owner of no TV shows whatsoever! (Okay, so maybe I'm not really proud about that.)

* * *

In the Park

The huntress fired at the spectral primate, frustration growing every minute. She'd deducted that things would get bad without Danny around to protect the city, but not _this_ bad. She felt guilty about the way she'd treated Danny in the past, but she had no time to dwell on her feelings. Without him around, the responsibility of protecting the city fell to her, and she had to do it whether she had other things she desperately needed to do or not.

Vlad's cronies were busy stopping traffic from entering the interstate freeway. The gorilla minions were using their massive strength to stomp holes into the asphalt, to prevent cars from getting through.

They weren't leaving it at that, either. When cars came too close to them, they threw the cars as far back down the road as they could. The cars would land somewhere on the street. They were landing on top of other vehicles, or causing accidents as people ran into them. Either way, they were taking out other cars with them as they burst into flame.

No one could get out of town as long as the gorillas were around.

Valerie's shot hit the gorilla head-on, infuriating the beast more. The animal lumbered in the direction the shot had come from.

Valerie flew at the beast quickly, releasing a string of fire from her ecto gun as she flew.

The gorilla groaned as it was hit by the blasts.

"Yes!" Valerie shouted, but her triumph was cut short as she spotted another ghost, Vlad Plasmius, coming toward the ruckus.

"Time to get out of here!" she said to herself, zooming off before she got caught by the mayor in his ghost form.

She really had to do something to pay him back for all he was putting her, and the rest of Amity, through. But first, she had to update her blog, in the slight chance that Danny would see it, and come to the town's aid.

* * *

"You wanted to see us?" Danny asked, coming out the Long's front door with Jake.

"Aye, young one, We have much to discuss. Come with me to my shop."

"Hey-a kids," Fu greeted, as they walked into the shop.

"Yo, whazzup Fu?"Jake asked.

"So I did a little research on your town last night, Danny, and I've got some important information for ya."

"What did you find, Fu?" Jake asked.

"Apparently, _somebody_ who's in a position of power is one evil being. He goes by the name of Vlad Masters. He's created an army of deranged ghostly gorillas to keep the residents inside the city. If that wasn't enough, he's gained absolute control over Amity Park, and has a list of things he plans to accomplish, people he wants to kill, typical villain stuff."

Fu paused, then told Danny, "I'm sorry, kid, but it seems your old man's on the top of the mayor's hotlist."

Danny's eyes glowed green as he growled, "Cheese head! Leave it up to him to do something like this while I'm away."

"By the way, I think it would interest you to know that your teacher was blackmailed beforehand into choosing you to demonstrate the procedure for the class. It didn't really have anything to do with stuff you did at all."

"Of course," Danny realized, "Vlad knew Mr. Lancer would call child protection! He found a way around the stalemate we were at with the knowledge of each other's secrets! He must've seen it as a way to get rid of me long enough for him to carry out his whole 'killing my dad and marrying my mom' plan. But, then why did he take control of the city? Hey, Fu? How did you find all that out?"

"You can find almost anything on the Internet," Fu replied.

"Oh," Danny mumbled, blushing, "yeah, duh!"

"One more thing, kid," Fu added. "There's a 'Red Huntress' who's calling for you to go back home - stat. She says she doesn't know how you've been handling all the ghosts, 'cause she can't. She said so on her blog."

'Since when does Val blog?' Danny thought to himself. 'I hope she's okay. I mean, that may not be something that Vlad wants me to see - an invitation back to Amity Park. He was the one who wanted me out of the city, right?'

"As Fu Dog said, the sooner we can get him," Lou Chi pointed to Danny, "back to Amity Park, the better. It seems he's the one who must capture the ghostly gorillas, and other various ghosts."

"That's my job," Danny agreed.

"And we've got to get his town to forget about the magical world, too! About that Gramps, Rose might've come up with a solution. . . . " Jake said.

Danny listened as Jake related Rose's plan. He frowned slightly, thinking. After a while, he asked, "So, we're going to play a hypnotic recording around town and everyone's going to forget?"

"Yeah," Jake said.

"That sounds sick! It sort of seems like something Ember would do." Danny commented. "But I can't complain, because I don't have a better idea."

He sighed, thinking of whom the plan would affect. It would affect Sam and Tucker. It would affect his mom, his dad, and his well-meaning sister, Jazz. He didn't like the idea of hiding things from them, especially from those he'd be hiding things from _again_. Danny asked, "Will the recording make my family forget too?"

"Sorry, but some sacrifices will have to be made, kid," Fu Dog replied. "Jake said _every_ human."

Danny sighed, and said, "Yeah, I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"So any more concerns?" Fu asked.

"Wait!" Danny said. "What will happen the next time a ghost shows up? Will they all remember?"

"Don't look at me!" Fu replied, "Jake's the one who told us the plan!"

As all the heads in thee room turned to look at him, Jake immediately informed them that he didn't know the answer to the question.

"Cut me some slack, here. I was on a date! Do you seriously not expect me to take some time off once in a while?" Jake said to defend himself.

"Well, we could always just leave the broadcast running, so they'll always just forget anything _else_ they see!" Fu offered.

Danny smiled, then he asked, "Okay, so how soon can we get the stuff to broadcast with?"

"I dunno," Fu replied. "That could be Murphy's main bit with this plan. I'm not sure how we're gonna get the stuff. I mean, this is nonstandard equipment we're talking about. Usually, if mortals find out, we just slip them a truth potion and we're done. But for a whole city, we'd have to put so much of the potion in, that it'd be a lethal amount."

"Bah! We'll have to find a way to make Roses' solution work." Lou Chi said. "Usually, I would discourage rushing into these things, but we have very little time if the mayor of Amity Park is moving quickly to carry out his plans. He has a whole city at his mercy, so we need to get Fenton back in Amity to stop him!"

* * *

Vlad examined the latest act of rebellion against him. His lab, not so secret as he thought if a vandal could find it, was in ruin. His equipment lay scattered across his floor, and his view screen for his spy bugs was smashed. Scorch marks covered the walls. Whoever had done this either had the use of ecto blasts available to them, or carried a ghost gun.

"SOMEBODY WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS!" he screeched.

* * *

Why did Vlad put himself in as the absolute leader of Amity Park, instead of just killing Jack and marrying Maddie?

Will Vlad catch the rebellious Valerie?

Is rushing into Rose's plan a good idea, even in the current circumstances?


	10. Warm Receivings

**As usual, I am sorry for the delay.**

**Before I write anything else, I'd like to take a moment for my reviewers. You asked some really good questions. Thank you all for your reviews.  
**

**Luiz4200: No, unfortunately not.  
**

**Obiwan456: Don't worry, Danny won't forget. :)  
**

**tiger002: Thanks for the compliments. I can't wait to get the chapter where Vlad's stopped, so that part is coming.  
**

Disclaimer: I'm not saying that I own any TV characters, shows, etc. . . .

* * *

Warm Receivings

"Jack! Long time no see! What've you been up to since high school?" Mr. Long asked, when he saw who was at the door. "And this must be your wife and daughter!"

"Jon!" Jack greeted. "This is Maddie and Jazz. Where's Danny?"

"Jack, aren't you going to thank him for taking care of Danny for us?" Maddie prompted him.

"Right!" said Jack. "Thanks for taking care of our son for us!"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Jonathon asked. "Come in, come in!"

Upstairs, Jake was giving Danny the good news about the plan to return him to Amity Park.

"Yes, I'm serious. Fu just received the speakers and the hypnotic CD today." Jake informed Danny.

"Good," said Danny.

The conversation cut off, however, as they heard voices down the stairs.

"Danny? Well, I suppose he's okay. He seems to be having a few issues though."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Danny has been," someone said. "He must be under a lot of stress, with the sudden changes in our lives."

Danny's face brightened up. "That's Jazz's voice," he said. "My family's here!"

The teen ran down the stairs. "Mom! Dad! Jazz! You're here!" he said. He ran to them, and gathered his family into a giant bear hug.

Maddie smiled at her son. "Oh Danny, we missed you too!"

* * *

"You're saying that you want us to put these speakers up around town to make everyone forget who you are, so you can come back to town?" Jazz asked.

The Fentons were driving back. Jake and his grandfather were coming with them, because as dragons, it was their duty to protect the secret existence of the magical world.

"Yeah, that's right," Danny replied. "That is what I need you to do."

"Danny, _we_ won't remember that you're a ghost, will we?" Jazz asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"No, I only wish you guys could. This is worse than the incident with the Reality Gauntlet." Danny mused. "At least that time a few people I was close to could still remember."

"How are you planning on telling Sam and Tucker that they won't know who you are?"

Danny sighed. "They don't need to know about this, Jazz. They'll forget either way. Telling them will just upset them."

"Okay, listen up, y'all. We're almost to your town. Get ready." Jake warned.

"Are those ghost gorillas just off the freeway?" Jack asked. "What are they doing."

Maddie took a look. "I think they're stopping traffic, Jack!" she said. "We're going to have to go around them."

Jack grinned. "Time for some fun!" he said, as he floored the gas pedal.

Danny looked ahead at Amity Park, instead of at the gorillas. He could see some sort of a ghost fight above the city. There was the form of a large ghost, and a red figure that appeared to be getting clobbered.

"Valerie!" Danny gasped. Something inside of him ordered him to save her. After all, he was supposed to protect Amity Park, and all its residents.

"Could you excuse me for a moment?" he asked. "There's something I have to do."

Danny went ghost inside the car, then shot off into the fight.

"There he goes, rushing off to be the hero again," Jazz said, proudly.

Danny was very close to the fight now. He mumbled to himself as he approached, "Val's gonna get herself seriously hurt if this goes on much longer."

"Now, Red Huntress, enjoy your plate of DOOM!" bellowed the Lunch Lady, in her monstrous form. She sent a swift stream of meat at Valerie.

But before she could get buried in meat, a black ghostly streak grabbed onto her and pulled her out of the way. The ghost put her down safely on the top of a building.

"Danny?" Valerie asked, almost unbelieving of what her own eyes were showing her. "You're back!"

Danny didn't stop to chat with her. He leaped back into battle with the Lunch Lady. After being weakened by Valerie, it didn't take much for Danny to defeat her.

He drifted back to the rooftop where Valerie stood, watching.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Danny, I'm amazed. I didn't think you'd dare show you're face around here again, not now that everyone knows what you are. I mean . . . thanks for coming back."

Danny shrugged, and jokingly asked her, "You didn't think I could stay away forever, did you?"

"No, but I was starting to wonder when you'd show up, Ghost Boy," she teased back. But soon she remembered the late nights, school, and all the ghosts. "But I still wanna know, _DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I WENT THROUGH WHILE YOU WERE GONE?_"

Danny flinched, and said softly, "I think I have a pretty good guess what was going on around here that you had to deal with."

"THE GHOSTS SHOWED UP ALL HOURS OF THE DAY, _AND NIGHT_," she shouted. "BECAUSE OF THAT, I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO GET ALL MY HOMEWORK DONE, I COULDN'T STAY AWAKE IN CLASS, AND I HAD TO DART OFF DURING WORK AND SCHOOL, _BECAUSE OF THE DUMB GHOSTS!_"

Danny wrapped an arm around her, looked her in the eyes, and told her, "I know exactly what you've been through, Val. The same things happened to me when _I_ was the one protecting Amity Park. I'm really sorry you had to go through all of that. I hope you forgive me." He flashed her an apologetic smile.

Valerie forced herself to breathe. Once her anger receded, she thought, 'Wow, he's been going through that all along? How does he do it?'

Then she started feeling guilty. 'I've been horrible to him,' she realized. 'I guess ruining Dad's carrier was an accident, and I wouldn't forgive him, or even consider believing him. I tried to destroy him. He should hate me.' Even as strong as a character as Valerie was, she couldn't help but cry, overwhelmed by emotion.

Danny pulled her closer to him, until his arms were around her, until she was close enough to cry into his shoulder. "I'm back now, Val," he whispered to her. "I didn't mean to hurt you by leaving. I'm back now, and I'll handle the ghosts. You can just relax."

Danny let out his breath. "I'm back, and I won't leave you in that position again. I promise."

She was the one who'd been horrible to him, and he was the one apologizing. She had to fix this.

"No, it's not that, Danny. It's . . . "

But Danny already understood. "It's about the way you acted toward my ghost half earlier, isn't it?" he asked.

He smiled at her. "I knew you had good intentions, so I forgave you a long time ago."

After that comment, Valerie melted into Danny's arms. Oh boy, was she glad to have him back. 'Danny . . . ' her thoughts hummed.


	11. Jack's Incredible Contribution

**Ugh. Does anyone know how to contact Fanfiction's tech support? I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure it was a problem with the site that made it so that I couldn't get this chapter, or anything else to upload. I finally had to copy and paste this into a preexisting document, and fix all the quotation marks and apostrophes that went wonky when I copied it. (I'm sorry if I missed any by the way. I promise there weren't any punctuation errors when I finished editing in my word processor.)**

**PS, has anyone else had this problem?**

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**Review Replies**

**tiger002: Thank you! Yeah, I guess this story is heading toward its end.  
**

**kittyore9: Thanks!  
**

**Luiz4200: I think you might like a little surprise in this chapter, then. The dragons wouldn't really have a problem with individuals knowing about the magical world, as long as the average people don't know. I mean, Jake's friends were permitted to know about the magical world, and they spent all series working on telling his dad!  
**

**Trinity the Kitsune Kunoichi: Hmm . . . I don't think I'll be able to do everything along those lines without completely changing the plot. But I had been planning to do some of those things anyway. :)  
**

**Obiwan456: Yeah. No one knowing in Amity would be weird, especially since some of the characters have known since Season 1 or earlier!  
**

**DYlogger: Susan, not Helen. I'm sorry, my mistake! :)  
**

**Elena Forest (chapter 2): Wow, thanks!  
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**Elena Forest (chapter 5): Thanks again!**

**:)  
**

Disclaimer: I don't own, so I don't make profit.

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Jack's Incredible Contribution

Danny poured over the map. "So do we have Amity broken up by districts?" he asked.

"Check," said Tucker, placing a check mark next to a list of the plan's steps.

"And we have each district subdivided?" Sam asked.

"Check."

"And we have enough fudge to snack on while we=re going around town?" Jack asked, hopefully.

"Check," said Tucker, before he realized what Jack had said. "Hey wait a minute, there's no fudge in this plan!"

"Well, that stinks," Jack mumbled.

"Let's review," Jazz suggested. "We've broken into three groups: Danny, with Sam and Tucker, Mom, with Dad and I, and Valerie, with our two friends from New York."

"Yeah, that's right," said Sam.

"We all have copies of the map, with our areas highlighted," Jazz said, "and we will hide two speakers in each subdivision of zones."

"Yep," said Tucker.

"After we're done, we will meet back here, at the Fenton Works. We will know it's time to start the broadcast when every group is back."

"Exactly," said Danny. Unshed tears welled up in his eyes. "And then all of you will . . . "

Danny shook his head to clear it, and to regain control of his emotions. He didn't want to upset anyone who didn't know that they would forget, after all.

"Yes?" Valerie asked.

Danny sighed. "Never mind," he said. "I'm sorry it has to be this way."

He looked up at his parents. "If things were different, and you know what I mean, do you think you'd treat me the same after this?" he asked. "Fenton, that is, I know you'd treat Phantom differently. Or would this be hard for you to accept?"

"Danny," said Maddie. 'You've got to remember that we love you. We would have worked _something_ out. We'd get over the change eventually, and we'd be as fair as possible in the meantime."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "You _are_ a Fenton."

Danny cracked a smile, and hope shone in his eyes.

"Yo," Jake interrupted. "I know this is a touching moment for y'all, but shouldn't we be setting the speakers up?"

'My grandson is correct," Lou Chi said. "Time waits for no one."

Danny sighed, and picked up an armful of speakers. "Come on, guys," he said to Sam and Tucker. "We better get started."

"Okay, dude," said Tucker, "But you better explain to us how these will help you, again?"

Danny couldn't make eye contact with his friend as he replied, "Trust me, it's not something you want to know."

* * *

Almost everyone was gathered back at the Fenton Works, hot and sweaty from the work of installing the speakers around town. Danny, Sam, and Tucker still had yet to return.

Maddie, Jazz, Valerie, Jake, and Lou Chi were resting on the Fentons' living room furniture. Jack had already headed to the lab, to do some secret project.

Jazz glanced at her watch. "Where's Danny?" she asked worriedly. "It shouldn't take him this long to put up the speakers."

Valerie snorted. "With all those ghosts flying around? I wouldn't expect him back for another hour."

"I hope something horrible didn't happen to him," Jazz said. "He usually comes home injured after fighting off ghosts."

Maddie shuddered at the thought that her son could be getting hurt that very moment. "We've got to go see if he needs any help," she said.

But before they could do anything, Danny and his friends phased into the room. "I'm fine for the moment, thanks," he said, grinning.

Letting go of Sam and Tucker, he apologized, "Sorry we took so long. We ran into the Guys in White. They're nothing I can't handle, but it took a while to shake them off. We've gotta get that broadcast playing before they think to look here."

Maddie stood up to hug Danny. Pulling him into a gentle embrace she said, "Promise me you'll be careful, and try not to get hurt?"

"Yeah Mom, I'll try."

With the incredible timing typical of cartoon characters, Jack burst up the stairs. "I've got it!' he bellowed. "I've done it!" He waved a couple pins above his head.

"Dad?" Danny asked. "What are those, exactly?"

"These, son, are Fenton Memifiers! They are mini radio disrupters that will allow anyone who wears them to be immune to the effects of the memory-erasing transmissions that we=ll be playing throughout town."

"What?" asked Sam, Tucker, and Valerie in unison. "You were going to erase our memories?"

"Only those related to ghosts," Danny whispered. "I'm sorry guys. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd be upset."

While Danny was talking to his angry friends, Jake was asking Jack a few questions.

"Say what?" he asked. "I mean, wouldn't those be dangerous if they were to fall into the wrong hands?"

"But they won't fall into the wrong hands!" Jack exclaimed. "Who would want to wear a blank pin?" The pins were blank, with even the normal Fenton Works logo missing from them. 'That's why I didn't put the word 'Fenton' on it!"

Danny looked up. "Hey Dad?" he asked. "Exactly what's the range on those? They won't make anyone standing close enough remember, will they?"

"Relax, Danny!" Jack said. "I've got it covered! These babies only disrupt signals for a few inches. Only the person actually wearing the pin will be affected!"

Jack pinned one of the Fenton Memifiers on himself, and fanned out the rest so that others could take them. "Come get one!" he called. "I've got just enough for everyone!"

When everyone else was reluctant to take a pin, he added, "Don't worry. They're perfectly safe! I used an unmodified version of the disrupters I put in the Fenton Phones, so that they disrupt radio waves instead of ghostly signals, and implanted them in the pins."

Reassured, they snatched up the Memifiers, and pinned them onto themselves.

"Yeah!" Danny exclaimed. "Now you guys don't have to forget!"

His family and friends looked on amused.

"If they work, that is," Danny amended. "I've been wanting to tell some of you guys for a long time," he admitted, "but I was too scared to, even after I knew you'd accept me. I didn't want to go back to you guys not knowing. I didn't want to go to not even Sam and Tucker, who were there when I became Phantom, knowing."

"The hypnotic CD is in place," Jake informed them. Handing Danny the remote, Jake said, "I think you should do this. It will just take a few minutes of exposure before the broadcast start having any effect on people's minds."

Jack's face brightened up. "That means that we'll have time to switch the pin between one set of clothes and another without forgetting! Push that button, Danny!"

"Okay," Danny said. With his hand hovering over the remote, he paused to say, "I hope the pins work. I hope this broadcast works."  
Danny lowered his finger, and pushed the play button.


	12. The Delusional HalfGhost

The Delusional Half-Ghost

**I'm so glad that uploading this chapter worked this time.**

**Review Reply:**

**Elena Forest: It's updated, but it ends with another cliffhanger. Sorry! :)  
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**Obiwan456: Does it work? Drum roll please . . .  
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**Trinity the Kitsune Kunoichi: Thanks!  
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**kittyore9: Yes, update, with another cliffhanger! (Sorry! :))  
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**Luiz4200: Yeah, that's true.  
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**tiger002: Hit the nail right on the head!**

**:)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Danny Phantom.**

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The Guys in White were on their way to the Fentons'.

"I thought they said that their son panicked and fled the state," said Operative O to Operative K.

"And as far as our research could show at the time, he did," K added.

"Seems like their prodigal son has returned home, for the worse, instead of for the better. Let's pay them a visit, shall we?"

O turned the corner. But as he did so, the broadcast was gradually taking effect.

"The Fentons are harboring a ghostly criminal, aren't they? Seems unlike them, even if they knew the punk. How did they know him again?" K asked.

"I'm not sure exactly," O admitted. "Some distant cousin's nephew, I think."

K clucked his tongue. "And they seemed like the type to reject ANY ghost."

O glanced sideways at K. "Do you really believe in ghosts?' he asked.

"I've seen some things," K replied. "But my memory is a bit foggy. I'm sure they were too unbelievable to be real, whatever they were. They must have been the result of some master illusionist playing a trick on me as a youngster."

O stopped as they reached the sign at the corner. Noticing Vlad on the sidewalk, he said, "Good day, Mayor Masters. You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Vlad's expression went from alarm to confusion as O greeted him. "I was under the impression that you two work for the Guys in White, the government's ghost hunting division."

"Yeah, we do," said K. "We're on our way to talk to the Fentons about 'harboring a ghost', right now." K laughed as he spoke, and ended up adding, "As if that's possible."

"Ghosts don't even exist," O added. "Everyone knows that! Well, except for a couple lunatics around town. Our job is to investigate the so-called sightings, and try to convince those weirdos that there is no such thing as ghosts."

'What happened to them? Never mind. I'll investigate later. I have better things to do at the moment.' Vlad wondered to himself. To the Guys in White, he asked, "Then what will you do if you _do_ see Daniel Fenton?"

"Nothing. Why should we do anything?" K asked.

"Because Daniel Fenton is supposedly the ghost they're harboring," Vlad replied. "I'll tell you what. I know the Fentons well. How about I make your job easier, and talk to them for you?"

"Sounds good to me," said K.

"You do that," said O. Then O U-turned and the Guys in White drove away.

Vlad turned his back on them. Pulling out a handheld radio, he asked, "Anyone listening?"

"Yes, Plasmius," came the reply. "Ve are listening."

"Good," he replied. "I want you to gather every ghost you can find. Bring all my gorillas as well."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"Did it work?" Danny asked anxiously. "Mom? Dad? Jazz? Sam? Tucker? Valerie? Do you remember?"

"Yeah dude," Tucker replied. "Let's just hope everyone else doesn't."

"Well, we'll just have to find out then, won't we Danny?"Valerie asked.

"Wait a minute!" said Sam. "You're not going to investigate _alone_ with Danny are you? Why do we think we're willing to trust you?"

Tucker snickered. "You're just jealous," he told Sam.

"AM NOT!" Sam yelled.

"You are so!"

"AM NOT!"

"Are so!"

Sam blinked, and looked around. She didn't see Danny or Valerie. "Please tell me they didn't just leave while we were arguing."

Tucker grinned. "Y'know, that's _exactly_ what happened."

Before anyone could say anything else, the front door burst open. Danny and Valerie ran back in, slamming the door behind them.

"Hey guys, the fruit loop is here, and he's got an army with him!" said Danny.

Jazz ran over to the Fenton Home Security system. She broke the glass, and prepared to activate it. She froze as the front door burst open yet again as a gorilla knocked it down.

A human figure walked through the resulting hole. It was Vlad.

"Well, well," he said. "We meet again, don't we Daniel?"

"Plasmius!" Danny hissed.

"Vladdie?" Jack asked. "I'm confused. Why are you breaking into my house and confronting my son? I thought we were friends!"

"We were never friends, you bumbling buffoon!" Vlad shouted. "Have you honestly not noticed my every scheme to get revenge on both you, and your son?"

"I don't understand!" Jack cried.

"Be careful Dad," Danny warned. "Not only is he a delusional creep, but he's also a powerful ghost."

Jack blinked. "He's a ghost?" he asked.

"I am _not_ delusional!" Vlad shouted. "It is 100 percent completely your father's fault that I'm half-ghost and my life is ruined! It is time to bring our secret battles out in the light."

Vlad went ghost.

Danny chuckled. "I wouldn't do that if I were you cheese head!"

"And why not?" Vlad snapped.

"Jazz now!" Danny shouted.

Jazz pushed the button, and activated the home security system. Alarms went off and guns burst out from the ceilings and walls. The guns locked onto Vlad, and rapidly fired blasts. Vlad formed an ecto dome around himself, but it didn't last long under the constant barrage.

The dome dissolved, and Plasmius was hit from all directions. Two black rings appeared around his waist, and turned him back into Masters. He fell, hitting the floor hard.

"That's why not," said Danny.

"I see that I'll need more ghosts to distract and destroy all your guns. Oh lucky me, I have a whole army at my disposal to do just that! That's more than enough to take care of both you _and_ your guns."

Vlad grinned evilly, before calling out to the ghosts, "Attack!" As an afterthought, he added, "Attack, but spare Maddie."


	13. The Mayor: A FullBlown Menace

**Farewell ****Exposed****! Everything is being wrapped up in your final chapter. But I finally managed how to incorporate Mr. Lancer into this chapter! I know Trinity Fenton-Phantom has been requesting that he will remember Danny's secret over and over . . .** **Don't kill me, but I left it up to you readers to decide what Lancer's train of thought will lead to.**

**Review Replies:**

**Luiz4200 - No, but that's good for Danny, isn't it. Not so much for the Guys in White though . . .  
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**Popcornalicious - Thanks for reviewing!  
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**tiger002 - Thanks! Yeah, climax (and denoucement) this chapter.  
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**Queen Skellington - Thanks for taking time to review, not just once, but 3 times! I hope the explanation at the beginning of chapter 6 (as a reply to tiger002's review) cleared up some confusion as to why I'm counting ghosts as magical creatures for you.  
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**:)**

Disclaimer: In the exposition, I didn't own Danny Phantom. I didn't own Danny Phantom in the complications either. At the climax, I still don't own Danny Phantom. Now at the denoucement, do you think I own Danny Phantom? I don't.

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The Mayor: A Full-Blown Menace

Ghosts streamed in, through the doorway, the windows, and the walls. Soon, the room was lousy with ghosts, and the home security guns were confused. There was too much ectoplasm, flying in too many directions, all at one time, for the sensors to handle. In a programmed response to keep an overload of information from permanently damaging the security system, all the equipment retracted into the walls.

"Okay," said Danny. "I guess it's time for me to GO GHOST!" He transformed as he leapt into the air. Each of his legs joined the other to form his spectral tail, and he took to the air. He shot around the room, holding a significant number of ghosts off as ecto blasts and ice blasts streamed from his gloved hands. "Don't just stand there!" he called. "Get your ghost weapons and help!"

Valerie was in action by the time the words got out of his mouth. His parents didn't need to be told twice either. Sam grabbed the Fenton Thermos and captured ghosts with it as they were defeated. Tucker used himself as live bait in order to distract several individuals from the army of ghosts. As for the dragons, they stayed in their human forms, but were pulling out concealed potions, and were managing to impact the fight.

As Sam capped the thermos on the last of the ghosts, Danny turned to Vlad, who was still in the living room. "Face it, Plasmius," he said. "If you fight the Fenton family, you'll lose every time."

Vlad, somewhat recovered from being shot by the Fenton's security system, was on his feet, and edging toward the door. "I see you've won this battle, but I have other means to come after you Fentons. So don't feel safe yet, because I will be trailing you closer than your own shadow. You haven't seen the last, or the best, of Vlad Masters!"

"Do you think we should go after him G?" Jake asked.

"Do not kick a dog when it's down, young one." Lou Chi replied. "We have already defeated him today. Besides, our business here is completed. We must part ways with the Fentons, and return to New York."

As he followed his grandfather out the door, he turned back to say, "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah," Danny said, "Take care."

"Yeah, take care."

Meanwhile, Jack and Maddie Fenton prepared to talk with their youngest child about his powers. They wanted to know him better, after all, and there didn't seem to be any way to do that without learning about his ghost half too.

* * *

When would these students learn how harmful it could be to pull a prank? Lancer had caught Miss Manson slipping a phony news article to Mister Fenton, with a ridiculous story about the mayor. It had gone something like this:

**The Mayor: A Full-Blown Menace**

by Sam Manson

_Vladimir Masters, Amity Park's forty-something year-old mayor, isn't all he seems to be. In fact, Amity Park has only known half of his identity since he arrived. He is also the evil Plasmius, with potent spectral powers, and a bitter loneliness that fuels his schemes for both conquest and revenge._

_His identity was revealed last night while attempting to gain more power over Amity Park, to the point of ruling it with an iron fist, or perhaps, with a giant chess piece. A further investigation revealed his black record. Police charged him with numerous offenses, including the way he obtained his fortune, his actions toward the cleared Danny Phantom, and being an all-out fruit loop._

_Following the investigation, he was removed from office, and sentenced to have his ghost half permanently removed, everything in his now-not-so-secret lab, to wash the Fenton family's feet, and to cater to their every whim. Citizens are encouraged to toilet paper Master's house, ruin the paint on his vehicles, and destroy his Packers' shrine._

_But will it be enough? Will this man ever be able to repay his debt to society? This reporter thinks not._

It had been a serious enough offense that Lancer had marched them to the principal's office himself. But his boss had acted very strangely, completely unlike herself. It was almost as if she'd been possessed by some mischievous spirit.

"Are you sure that drastic measures are needed?" she'd asked. "They're just kids, and they probably didn't intend the article to be seen by anyone but the two of them. I think you should've just given them a warning about getting their laughs at the expense of others, and let them go. But because you didn't, they are free to go now."

"But . . . " he had started to protest. It broke his heart to see lack of discipline developing in the school. Unfortunately for Lancer, the rest of his sentence had been drowned out by the ringing of the passing bell.

"I won't hear it, just go and do your job properly from now on."

Manson and Fenton were in the hall when he turned and left the office. They were speaking in teen language. Their conversation was something about "overshadowing," but he didn't have the heart to look the word up at the moment. He passed Paulina Sanchez, who was busy wondering how a grand collection of pictures of a boy she'd never seen before had gotten all over the inside of her locker. But Lancer's mind was in his own thoughts.

There was something different about Fenton and his friends. They were always up to something completely different than what teenagers should be doing. Of course, there had always been something strange about Fenton, ever since the beginning of his high school experience. But Lancer could never quite put his finger on what it could be. . . .


End file.
